My Gay Agenda – High Maintenance Queenie

While I sit here trying work out how to articulate my Agenda in 1,000 words, it is apparent that so many of us want to see Equality.

I long for the day, which our Community doesn’t feel shame, ridicule or hatred. Will this happen, or is it a pipeline dream? There are so many community pages and groups gathering support and Social Media has played a huge role in this

We are starting to see members of our Community in high profile positions that actually have the opportunity to represent us and be our voices in Parliament. While all this political activism is slightly new to me, I am out the front, screaming from the roof top that we are here, and most importantly we Vote!

After a recent forum that I arranged in Townsville, the feedback from the Politician who attended, was “your community needs to work out what it wants as you are not united in your wants” My response was equality! While there is variance within the community on the desire to marry, the one that is consistent is the need for equality.

For me, being able to marry my beautiful partner isn’t a choice we have the luxury of making. We are told we have no choice. This goes against our Human Rights.

What does astound me though is our Government is happy to recognise our relationships for Taxation and Centrelink purposes. How confusing is this for our Community? Partial recognition but not full, interesting isn’t it. I understand that is a step int he right direction, and it is an evolving process, however, I do not think it is right or fair to pick and choose when you will acknowledge our Relationships. I truly believe that marriage equality is the next logical progressive step.

I want to see the end of our youth committing suicide because they feel they are alone, are abnormal and just can’t take another day of bullying. This is what breaks my heart the most. To know there are young ones who are so distressed and truly believe there is nothing left to live for. Bullying of any description is horrendous and the statistics for the LGBTI youth are alarming. We need to ensure our laws are more proactive and prevent cyber bullying. We need our schools to be inclusive and offer safety and support.

I want to know that if anything happens to me, no-one can overturn my partner’s decisions or take over my funeral plans from her. I want our community to feel safe and at peace in their final days that their wishes will be done as they requested.

I want to see rainbow families, having their families and knowing that those within the community that want to grow their families are safe, and that both parents are recognised. I want those families to know that if anything happens to one parent, the other parent can continue to look after the children.

I would also like to see more tolerance shown towards people, who do not understand the acronyms and jargon that we in the LGBTI community use. Some people are not ignorant they are simply uneducated to our myriad of words, letters and symbols. It is up to us to explain them and teach them the right terminology.

So for me, my Gay Agenda, is fighting to provide a safe and inclusive society where these young lives aren’t taken, where families flourish, and our end of life wishes are respected and upheld. I am fighting to ensure that EQUALITY is for all and not just for some of the LGBTI community. The Trans and Intersex community is often left out and I believe if we are to achieve full equality, then we must stand united and we must fight for all rights not just some.

When we have our rallies and our forums, we need to ensure we have a Trans and Intersex representative, so their voices are heard and their needs are not ignored.

I know within my heart, that this isn’t a pipeline dream and that it will come. I mean, throughout the world, people are now taking notice and are starting to make changes, so it is only a matter of time. I still have a lot to learn and I look forward to learning all of this, but it won’t stop me in the meantime to keep up the good fight in honour of those that have come before me and who for some, paid the ultimate price for my freedom that I have now.

Now is when we need to maintain the pressure and build our momentum. We need to demonstrate at the voting polls, that we are indeed a force to reckon with. We need to show businesses, that our Pink Dollar has far greater value than just the ability to purchase an item. We need to use our strength that we have, to demonstrate that we do not want “something special” or “something extra”, all we are asking for is Equality … we want what everybody else already has and to be treated the same.

About the author

HMQ is a Openly Proud Lesbian, who is the Co-Founder of Stand Up With Pride, a Facebook page set up to support local LGBTI members and to be a political voice. While only new to the political forefront, is passionate and dedicated to see equality for ALL members of the LGBTI community.